Driving the Day

THE PRESIDENT CONTINUES TO PUBLICLY BERATE HIS ATTORNEY GENERAL — at 6:03 a.m.: “Ukrainian efforts to sabotage Trump campaign – ‘quietly working to boost Clinton.’ So where is the investigation A.G. @seanhannity” … at 6:12 a.m.: “Attorney General Jeff Sessions has taken a VERY weak position on Hillary Clinton crimes (where are E-mails & DNC server) & Intel leakers!” … at 6:21 a.m.: “Problem is that the acting head of the FBI & the person in charge of the Hillary investigation, Andrew McCabe, got $700,000 from H for wife!”

JONATHAN LEMIRE and JILL COLVIN:“AP sources: Trump speaks to advisers about firing Sessions”: “President Donald Trump has spoken with advisers about firing Attorney General Jeff Sessions, as he continues to rage against Sessions’ decision to recuse himself from all matters related to the Russia investigation. … Privately, Trump has speculated aloud to allies in recent days about the potential consequences of firing Sessions, according to three people who have recently spoken to the president. They demanded anonymity to discuss private conversations.” http://bit.ly/2vEHmTu

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— WHY AND HOW HE’D DO IT: “Trump leaves Sessions twisting in the wind while berating him publicly,” by WaPo’s Sari Horwitz, Matt Zapotosky and Bob Costa: “Replacing Sessions is seen by some Trump associates as potentially being part of a strategy to fire special counsel Robert S. Mueller III and end his investigation into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with the Kremlin to influence the 2016 election … Trump could order Rosenstein — and then Associate Attorney General Rachel Brand — to fire Mueller. If they quit instead of doing so, he could appoint an acting attorney general who would. Trump could also appoint an acting attorney general with them in place — effectively passing over Rosenstein and Brand — and order that person to remove the special counsel. … Another scenario is that Trump could make a recess appointment, said University of Texas School of Law professor Steve Vladeck.

“Under that plan, Trump could choose an attorney general during the August recess who would serve until the end of the next Senate session, which could be early January. That person would have the same authority as someone who is confirmed by the Senate … Among the names being floated as possible Sessions replacements are Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and former New York City mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, according to people familiar with the conversations. … Trump, though, continues to let Sessions twist in the wind. One person close to Trump said the president asked him about how firing Sessions ‘would play in the conservative media.’ Trump also asked him whether it would help to replace Sessions ‘with a major conservative,’ the person said.” http://wapo.st/2tVibKk

— TED CRUZ has signaled he is not interested, and RUDY GIULIANI defended Sessions, and “swatted away a report” that he is in the running to replace him, according to CNN.

AND ON TO HEALTH CARE … @realDonaldTrump at 6:27 a.m.: “Big day for HealthCare. After 7 years of talking, we will soon see whether or not Republicans are willing to step up to the plate!” … at 6:38 a.m.: “ObamaCare is torturing the American People.The Democrats have fooled the people long enough. Repeal or Repeal & Replace! I have pen in hand.”

Good Tuesday morning. BREAKING LAST NIGHT: SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-ARIZ.) is coming back to “continue working on important legislation, including health care reform, the National Defense Authorization Act, and new sanctions on Russia, Iran and North Korea.”

THE QUESTION RIGHT NOW is whether 51 Republicans will vote for the motion to proceed — a procedural question that allows the Senate to debate the health care bill.

BURGESS EVERETT, SEUNG MIN KIM and JEN HABERKORN: “McConnell spent the day cajoling his members and meeting with Vice President Mike Pence to plot strategy. The majority leader was still short of the votes to even open debate, and Republicans still don’t know what they’d be voting to allow debate on if they agree to go along with McConnell on the procedural vote.

“If [McConnell] manages to round up the 50 votes, it would be a huge political victory. The office of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) announced late Monday that he would return to the Senate, but the undecided positions of about a half-dozen senators have left McConnell with a tiny margin for error, and no one’s quite sure what his end game is.” http://politi.co/2tEuNdj

— HERE IS A BRAIN DUMP ON THE STATE OF PLAY FROM ONE SENIOR GOP STRATEGIST: “It has been abundantly clear that policy disagreements are not the ultimate barrier to moving forward. They’ve had months to work that out. There is a contingent of GOP senators who refuse to accommodate their concerns in negotiations in the hopes of avoiding a vote altogether. The only way to change that dynamic is to hold a vote that provides the opportunity to put every senator on record as to whether they are willing to debate Obamacare.

“A yes vote brings an open amendment process where every senator will have the opportunity to amend, improve, and ultimately decide whether the final product is worthy of their support. Conversely, if some Republicans are more comfortable dealing President Trump a loss than debating Obamacare, this vote will provide the opportunity to make that clear to their constituents since most have represented otherwise for the past seven years.”

FROM A SENIOR SENATE GOP AIDE: “It’s time to vote; it’s time to get on the bill. We pulled back twice for different reasons but it’s time. In fact it’s past time. Republican Senators know the issue and the solutions. They’ve been discussing it for months. To fail not to get on the bill is not a resolution after four election cycles of promises. If we get on the bill, amendments can and will be offered. But that cannot happen unless we get on the bill.”

WSJ EDITORIAL: “Can Republicans Govern? Some Senators want to talk forever about health care. Time for a vote”: “Mitch McConnell is scheduling another showdown vote in the Senate—the third attempt—as early as Tuesday on a motion to proceed to debate on health reform. Succeed or fail, the Republican Majority Leader is right to demand this moment of political accountability. … Members have been debating among themselves for weeks, they know or should know the bill’s essential policy choices, and the bill isn’t getting prettier with age. That’s especially true on Medicaid reform and spending, which is the chief gripe of the so-called moderates led by Rob Portman of Ohio. They keep demanding more money. They keep getting it, but it’s never enough.” http://on.wsj.com/2uSR9rj

— ALSO KEEP IN MIND: The Senate, at this point, doesn’t even know what it’s voting on. The order of amendments has been an open — and critical — question. Burgess, SMK and Jen: “Republicans are strongly considering a strategy that would tee up two separate votes — one on the repeal only and another on the plan the Senate has been working on to repeal and replace Obamacare. If one fails, ‘you set up a vote on the other one,’ said Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.). The theory behind the strategy is that by making that assurance, Republicans could pick up votes to start debate from ardent conservatives as well as waffling moderates.”

— AND WHAT’S NEXT? If the Senate passes something, does Speaker Paul Ryan keep the House in to try to pass it? Or does he move to go into conference — the formal negotiating process between the House and Senate that could force the conversation about health care for months. There would be tremendous pressure to do something.

VP MIKE PENCE met with McConnell last night, and his office is touting the outside groups supporting voting for the motion to proceed. The listhttp://politi.co/2vVrL13

THE PRESIDENT, LATE MONDAY NIGHT:@realDonaldTrump at 10:23 p.m.: “The Amazon Washington Post fabricated the facts on my ending massive, dangerous, and wasteful payments to Syrian rebels fighting Assad…..” … at 10:28 p.m.: “So many stories about me in the @washingtonpost are Fake News. They are as bad as ratings challenged @CNN. Lobbyist for Amazon and taxes?” … at 10:36 p.m.: “Is Fake News Washington Post being used as a lobbyist weapon against Congress to keep Politicians from looking into Amazon no-tax monopoly?”

— FOR THE RECORD: Amazon doesn’t own the Washington Post. We’ve never heard a Post reporter care one iota about promoting policies that benefit Amazon. … ALSO: @adamgoldman: “Did @realDonaldTrump just declassify @CIA program in Syria?”

BACK ON THE TRAIL … — “From ‘fake media’ to Clinton, Trump brings political attacks to the Scout Jamboree,” by WaPo’s John Wagner and Jenna Johnson: “Ahead of President Trump’s appearance Monday at the National Scout Jamboree in West Virginia, the troops were offered some advice on the gathering’s official blog: Fully hydrate. Be ‘courteous’ and ‘kind.’ And avoid the kind of divisive chants heard during the 2016 campaign such as ‘build the wall’ and ‘lock her up.’ But from the moment he took the stage, Trump — who was never a Scout himself but touted his role as the ‘honorary president of the Boy Scouts of America’ — started leading them down a very different path.

“Over the next 35 minutes, the president threatened to fire one of his Cabinet members, attacked former president Barack Obama, dissed his former rival Hillary Clinton, marveled at the size of the crowd, warned the boys about the ‘fake media,’ mocked pollsters and pundits, and said more people would say ‘Merry Christmas’ under his presidency. He also told a rambling tale about a famous, now-deceased home builder that meandered from a Manhattan cocktail party to a yacht and then to places that the president would only allow the boys’ imaginations to go.” http://wapo.st/2tVYm5w

— ACTUAL THING SAID BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES TO BOY SCOUTS, telling the story of William Levitt, a failed developer: “He went personally bankrupt, and he was now much older. And I saw him at a cocktail party, and it was very sad because the hottest people in New York were at this party.”

— DID YOU EVER hear President Barack Obama talk about his victory over Mitt Romney eight months after the election? Did George W. Bush boast about beating John Kerry and Al Gore?

— “Trump shames Sessions amid shake-up speculation,” by Josh Dawsey, Eliana Johnson, Nahal Toosi and Daniel Lippman: “Sessions was in the West Wing on Monday, though he didn’t meet Trump, a White House spokeswoman said. New communications director Anthony Scaramucci told POLITICO the president remained upset. … A George W. Bush administration National Security Council aide who remains in touch with the White House and a Trump transition aide separately said that, should he leave, [HR] McMaster would likely be replaced either by C.I.A. Director Mike Pompeo or by Bush’s former United Nations Ambassador John Bolton. … National Security Council staffers threw a surprise birthday party for McMaster early Monday evening on the balcony of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

“It was standing room only and paid for by the staffers … Top aides Jared Kushner, Dina Powell and Tom Bossert attended the gathering, where there was singing and chocolate cake for the general, who turned 55 years old on Monday. … One source familiar with conversations [Rex] Tillerson has had recently with associates said that Trump’s top diplomat feels he is ‘not being allowed to do his job’ and is reconsidering how long he is willing to stay. Tillerson initially planned to stay for at least a year, the source said, but now ‘he’s no longer wedded to that idea.’” http://politi.co/2gZkuup

— FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH: The buzz about Pompeo to the White House is widespread. But we hear he is very happy at the CIA and is not interested in a move. Could it happen? Sure. But people close to him see it as unlikely.

— “New communications director moves toward possible staff purge at White House,” by WaPo’s Philip Rucker and Ashley Parker: “Anthony Scaramucci … is exercising a broad mandate from the president and intends to follow through on threats to purge aides he believes are disloyal to Trump and leaking to the press, officials with knowledge of the fast-moving effort said Monday. Just four days into the job, Scaramucci has moved into Trump’s inner sanctum and is now described by some colleagues as almost family to the president — in contrast to his predecessor, outgoing press secretary Sean Spicer, who was described more like the help. In consultation with confidants inside and outside the administration, Scaramucci has begun undertaking an audit of the White House’s dozens of press and communications staffers.

“He is meeting one-on-one with aides in an effort to understand each person’s contributions and weed out those he determines are not working hard enough to defend the president through the crises besieging the White House … Scaramucci wants the communications shop focused on serving a single client — the president — and is looking outside of the White House to recruit new advisers with professional experience, especially on television. He is considering bringing on corporate communications specialists as well as people who have on-air experience … Scaramucci has deep contacts at Fox News, where he was a paid contributor and hosted a weekly show on Fox Business Network. Wayne Berman, a longtime Republican operative whose name has been previously floated as a possible chief of staff, is scheduled to meet with Scaramucci on Tuesday at the White House.” http://wapo.st/2eJHDRa

THE COUNTER NARRATIVE — “Democrats sidestep social issues in new economic push,” by Heather Caygle and Elana Schor in Berryville, Virginia: “Congressional Democratic leaders descended upon this rural Virginia town Monday to unveil a progressive economic package they say can win back working-class voters next November, even in red states. And noticeably missing, amid the talk of raising wages and reining in corporate interests, were the left-leaning stances on social issues that help form the backbone of the party, including immigration, abortion and LGBT rights.

“Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) vowed that his party’s red-state incumbents would largely embrace the new agenda — which, he acknowledged, purposefully avoids the social issues that have already opened a rift this year between the party’s liberal base and centrist bloc. ‘There is not that divide on economic issues,’ Schumer told reporters as Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, whose anti-corporate agenda influenced Democrats’ new economic strategy, worked a small but adoring crowd in a county that went for Donald Trump by more than 55 percent last year. ‘The focus starts on economic issues,’ Schumer continued. ‘That’s where the American people are hurting. That’s what we most felt was missing in the past in the last several elections.’” http://politi.co/2tV5Fdw

HOUSE DEMS FLEX MUSCLES — “House Democrats stun GOP by sinking vets, intel bills,” by Connor O’Brien: “House Democrats sank two key bills on the House floor Monday, embarrassing Republican leaders who were banking on the noncontroversial legislation sailing through — in a new sign of the opposition party’s frustration with the majority’s approach. Kicking off a busy week in the House, most Democrats and a handful of Republicans joined forces to deny GOP leaders big-enough majorities to pass an annual intelligence policy bill and legislation to restore funding for a key veterans health care program.

“Both bills came to the House floor Monday under suspension of the rules, an expedited process that allows for less than an hour of debate and no amendments but also requires a two-thirds majority for passage. The suspension process is typically used for noncontroversial bills that have broad bipartisan support. One suspension bill failing on the House floor is a rarity, but two back to back is extremely rare.” http://politi.co/2tVsjm9

— WORTH NOTING: Yes, this is just a short-term win for Democrats. Republicans will find another procedural way to move the legislation through the chamber. But, it is significant that Democrats banded together after House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi sent a “Dear Colleague” letter to let force the intel bill to fail.

WHAT STEVE SCALISE TOLD HOUSE REPUBLICANS — SCALISE is still in the hospital, but he dialed into the House Republican whip meeting. He told the crew that he’s being well taken care of at Medstar Washington Hospital Center, and thanked Chief Deputy Whip Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) for his hard work since the shooting.

TRUMP’S TUESDAY — TRUMP has Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri at the White House. They’ll hold a press conference at 3 p.m. Trump and the first lady leave for Vienna, Ohio, at 4:25 p.m. and hold a political rally at 7:05 p.m. They return to the White House late tonight.

JOIN US IN DENVER! Anna and Jake are holding a special Playbook Exchange event in Denver with Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper Aug. 1 at 5:30 p.m. MDT. RSVP:http://politi.co/2vElRC9

BIG IN JERUSALEM — WSJ’S RORY JONES in Tel Aviv: “Israel Removes Metal Detectors at Jerusalem Holy Site: Dismantling of devices comes amid flurry of diplomacy by U.S. and Western officials after a weekend of violence”: “Israel on Tuesday began removing metal detectors from one of Jerusalem’s holiest sites, aiming to defuse tensions after their installation triggered widespread anger and protests among Palestinians and across the wider Arab world.

“The detectors were installed earlier this month after Arab gunmen shot dead two Israeli policeman at the site known to Jews as the Temple Mount compound and Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary. Their dismantling comes amid a flurry of diplomacy by U.S. and Western officials after a weekend of violence left three Israelis and at least three Palestinians dead. Israel said it would replace the detectors with sophisticated technology. The plan will be implemented in the coming months and include greater police presence around the entrance to the central Jerusalem site.” http://on.wsj.com/2tVWGcp

— GABRIEL SHERMAN TO JOIN VANITY FAIR – Per a Hadas Gold exclusive in Morning Media: “The tireless chronicler of Fox News and Roger Ailes is leaving his longtime home New York magazine to join Graydon Carter’s domain at Condé Nast. Sherman will be a special correspondent, contributing regular features to the magazine while also writing for The Hive, Vanity Fair’s business-focused digital site.”

— SPOTTED AT WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW AT VERIZON CENTER: SBA Administrator Linda McMahon — who was president and CEO of WWE — and Andy Surabian, special assistant to the president and deputy to Steve Bannon. They were not seated together, but both were spotted near ringside. Surabian shook hands with D.C. rapper Wale.

— JILL STEIN FOR PRESIDENT just filed a campaign finance report, which showed her campaign manager made $5,640 in June.

— REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-Calif.) is running promoted fundraising Tweets targeting Californians after Trump called him out on Twitter Monday morning by calling him “sleazy” and “totally biased.” Screenshothttp://bit.ly/2tyKO0j

— FIRST IN PLAYBOOK:JOHN GANS, who was chief speechwriter to former Secretary of Defense Ash Carter and is now a lecturer at Johns Hopkins and a resident fellow at the German Marshall Fund, has signed a book deal with Liveright, a division of W.W. Norton, to publish a history of the White House NSC staff. Based on over 60 interviews including Dick Cheney, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Robert Gates and 10,000 original documents from nine presidential archives, “White House Warriors: How the National Security Council has Transformed the American Way of War” will be released next year.

Playbook Reads

PHOTO DU JOUR: President Donald J. Trump poses for photographs with an outgoing group of interns at the White House on July 24. | Chris Kleponis/Pool/Getty

WILLIAM D. COHAN in the NYT, “This Is Not the Mooch I Know”: “Anthony has the skills to make a big difference in this White House. He is smart, generous and funny, open-minded and ambitious — but not in an obnoxious way. He cares about being able to disagree without being disagreeable. … We have shared many beers at Bill’s, on East 54th Street, debating our opposing political viewpoints and sharing our life experiences. … But the Anthony Scaramucci I know and admire was not the Anthony Scaramucci who stepped up to the lectern in the White House briefing room on Friday afternoon. Dressed to the nines in a navy blue power suit, he was sycophantic. He professed his ‘love’ for Mr. Trump over and over again — six times, by one count. It was painful and embarrassing to watch.” http://nyti.ms/2v2GA5o

— ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: “Scaramucci on Trump: ‘He’s My Client’”: “‘I was left for dead on the street, and now I’m headed for Air Force One,’ Mr. Scaramucci said by phone on Monday, literally on his way toward Air Force One for a quick trip with the president to Beaver, W.Va.” http://nyti.ms/2eKuvuS

IN FOGGY BOTTOM —“After Heated Clash With White House, Tillerson Eyes New Pick For Top Asia Envoy,” by BuzzFeed’s John Hudson: “Olin Wethington, a former Treasury Department official and a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council, is now a contender for the nomination of assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, four individuals familiar with the matter said. … Tillerson originally wanted the job to go to Susan Thornton, a veteran diplomat who speaks Mandarin Chinese, two U.S. officials told BuzzFeed News. But White House officials opposed her due to concerns that her views were out of step with the president’s agenda — a claim State Department officials deny.” http://bzfd.it/2ut6EFA

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS — “Source: Nunes likely to attend Kushner interview,” by Kyle Cheney: “House intelligence committee chairman Devin Nunes — who stepped aside from the House’s Russia probe amid partisan infighting — is expected to attend Tuesday’s highly anticipated closed door interview of Jared Kushner, according to a GOP source. Nunes handed off leadership of the probe in April after the House Ethics Committee announced an inquiry into Nunes’ handling of classified information, allegations Nunes said were a meritless ploy driven by liberal activists. Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas) has led the probe since then, aided by GOP Reps. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C) and Tom Rooney (R-Fla.).” http://politi.co/2vEmLP3

ISAAC DOVERE PODCAST — The Terminator heads to the Supreme Court — “Where is your machine?” Arnold Schwarzenegger asked Isaac Dovere, as they got ready to record Tuesday’s Off Message podcast. “Go get your machine!” Once the machine was on, he explained how his political philosophy works, by way of how he came to be such a big afterschool program advocate. “There’s the Austrian Arnold and the American Arnold. The American Arnold, the Republican, says, ‘You’ve got to go. Don’t help those kids. The parents should go home and they should do their job,’” he said. “So then it’s the other Arnold, the Austrian Arnold that says, ‘No, no. That’s not the way we would do it over there.’ … They fight all the time. All the time, it’s wild.”

And for all his arguments with Trump, he said he hasn’t given up hope. Trump has “really great potential, because I think that people still like him and I think that people want him to do well, especially his constituents.” Trump can win over converts “by just making some adjustments,” he said. The only politician he said he admires: Mike Bloomberg. Isaac suggested their work together was like a Twins sequel, and Schwarzenegger agreed, though “I didn’t tell him that because otherwise, he feels like he’s the short guy and Michael Bloomberg doesn’t like that.” And will he be back? Only if California changes the state constitution to let him run for governor again. Drop the Senate run rumors forever, he said: “Why would I run for Senate? To be one of 100 here? That’s not my style.” http://politi.co/2uSQkyR

COMING ATTRACTIONS – “CBSN: On Assignment” premieres next Monday at 10 p.m. on CBS and CBSN. The episode will look at “how ISIS leaders turned a generation of kids into potential killers. The episode also will explore how Japan is using robots to repopulate and how foreign contractors are committing visa fraud to expand auto plants across the country.” Video previewhttp://cbsn.ws/2vSxXqG

MEDIAWATCH — NEW VARIETY COVER – “The Sinclair Scare: David Smith is building the biggest TV station business in America with an eye to innovating the entire industry. But his company has come under fire as a right-wing propaganda machine”. http://bit.ly/2eKB6Wm … The coverhttp://politi.co/2uSTl25

–JOE POMPEO’s debut in Vanity Fair, “The Agony and the Anxiety of the New York Times”: “As one editor put it, ‘The mood at the paper is poisonous in a way I’ve never seen it in the past 15 years.’ The ostensible reason is that the Times is undergoing yet another round of buyouts, set to be finalized on Thursday. … [T]he Times’s midtown Manhattan headquarters is itself being upended, shrinking by eight floors and leaving all but the highest of editors without private offices. … At its core, the Times’s internal transformation focuses on upending the paper’s copy desk. …

“For decades, the copy desk has been an all-seeing, all-powerful enforcer of Times standards and verbal peculiarities. As much as the reporters, writers, and editors, it’s what makes the Times the Times. The traditional desk structure allowed for multiple eyes to be placed on every story—checking, tweaking, standardizing, changing ‘dads’ to ‘fathers’ and discouraging the use of ‘launch’ unless it involved a rocket, or perhaps a boat. … In the reorganization, the copy desk is being eliminated as a freestanding entity. … The Times’s 109 copy editors were invited to re-apply for jobs under the new system, and those who didn’t make the cut were encouraged to apply for buyout packages that also were offered to reporters and other editors.”

TRANSITIONS — Paul Brinkley, former deputy undersecretary of Defense in the Bush and Obama administration, is partnering with former Senate Armed Services senior staffer William Greenwalt on a new investment firm that will provide capital and expertise to tech companies that serve the aerospace and defense markets. … Robert Scher has been named head of international affairs at BP America. He has most recently served as the assistant secretary of defense for strategy, plans, and capabilities. … Express Scripts has promoted Gary Kline to VP of federal government affairs. …

… Dominique McKay has been named press secretary for Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) at the Senate Republican Conference. McKay previously was deputy press secretary at the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. … Adam Scheidler has been named creative director for the Senate Republican Conference. He currently is digital communications director at the House Committee on Financial Services.

ENGAGED – Jason Weinstein, managing director at Targeted Victory, recently proposed to Jen Harrington, who runs Conservative Connector, a Nevada and Wisconsin campaign veteran and a Bush 43 WH alum. “Sam Osborne and Matthias Reynolds introduced us in 2015. I asked Sam to make sure she invited Jen to more group outings so we could hang out. We went on our first date in June 2015 and have been together ever since.” How he proposed: [W]e were playing card games after dinner at our favorite restaurant Epic. As Jen flipped over cards she saw the message ‘Will You Marry Me?’.” Picshttp://bit.ly/2ty40vc … http://bit.ly/2eJY4gg

WEEKEND WEDDING — Becket Adams and Anneke Green got married on Sunday at Christ Our Shepherd Church by the Rev. Stuart McAlpine followed by luncheon at Le Diplomate. The bride is senior director at the White House Writers Group, a columnist at RealClearPolitics, and a contributor to BBC News “who broke away from wedding festivities to offer commentary on Sean Spicer’s resignation from the White House.” The groom is a media critic and political commentary writer at the Washington Examiner “whose access to Twitter is being taken away for the duration of the honeymoon in Southeast Asia. … Guests left with full bellies and favors of whole coffee beans by Washington, D.C. roastery Small Plains and ‘Wedding Tea’ by Harney and Sons.” Pichttp://bit.ly/2tW6qD8

WELCOME TO THE WORLD – OBAMA ALUMNI: Corey Then, who served for four years in the Obama Administration and is now associate general counsel at Edward Jones Investments, and Lauren DeSantis-Then, a partner at Polsinelli law firm, on Bastille Day, July 14, 2017, welcomed their second child, Francesa Lucia Then. “Francesca is pretty and perfect and Mom is doing well.” Corey Then served as deputy associate counsel at the White House, special assistant to the President and deputy general counsel at the Department of Agriculture, and the family recently moved to St. Louis, Lauren’s hometown. Picshttp://politi.co/2vViarg … http://politi.co/2uS9mp4

BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Amy Holmes, political analyst for Rasmussen Reports. How she’s celebrating: “I might take myself to see ‘Wonder Woman.’ I should also probably get a mani-pedi after a toe nail fell off a few weeks ago from a hiking trip.” Read her Playbook Plus Q&A: http://politi.co/2tyWv78

The host of TYT Network's nationally-syndicated Bill Press Show (Monday-Friday from 7-9am ET), Press attends the daily White House press briefing and writes a weekly column for the powerhouse politics website The Hill.